Wireless local area networks (WLANs) operate in frequency spectrum that is unlicensed by the governing authority in most countries and jurisdictions. This frequency spectrum is commonly referred to as the “unlicensed band.” In the United States, the unlicensed band established by the FCC consists of large portions of spectrum (e.g., 80 MHz @ 2.4 GHz, 300 MHz @ 5 GHz) which are free to use. The FCC currently sets minimal requirements for the unlicensed bands such as limits on transmit power spectral density and limits on antenna gain.
There are challenges to using the unlicensed band. Like the early days of the personal computer, current unlicensed band products are difficult to use and suffer from such problems as complex and costly installation, only manually configurable, interference with other devices, and limited diagnostics. Examples of communication protocols designed to use the unlicensed band are the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols, the Bluetooth™ protocol and cordless phone technologies. In addition, similar to the early days of cellular telephony, current unlicensed band products do not come close to the capacity and quality of service (QoS) that is achievable. The devices have little or no intelligence, the channels are fixed for a device as well as power levels, and the data rates, range of QoS are therefore limited.
Market projections indicate that technologies and use of the unlicensed band will grow significantly. A result of such growth is that as more and more devices use the unlicensed band, the spectrum will become more crowded, which in turn will degrade the quality of service in the unlicensed band. Thus, technology is needed to exploit all of the benefits of the unlicensed band without degrading the level of service that users expect.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent when reference is made to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.